Chasing Ivy (Oak Hill 1)

Oh, but the thing is… I had been carrying a torch around for her. It had been hidden under a ginormous amount of lust for Breanna, burying myself between her legs to try to stifle the hurt, but deep down, I’d been waiting.

I’d been waiting for her.

Ivy spoke up again, using that nervous, tiny voice that had never left my memory. “But why her? You could do so much better.”

I blurted, “She’s changed.” But even as the words left my mouth I knew they were a lie.

Ivy’s face scrunched. “She still seemed pretty dead-set on hating me from the look she gave me.” She laughed.

I wanted to move past this conversation and go on about my way because I knew that nothing good was going to come from it. It would be wrong of me to agree with her because Breanna was still my girlfriend, whether my mind frequently wavered from the idea or not.

The thing with Breanna was, I knew we didn’t have this amazing relationship built on love and all that mushy shit. I knew deep down that I’d never feel for her what she probably wanted me to feel, but… she really did help pull me out of a massive slump. She helped get me out of that dark place I was in after Ivy left, and I grew so comfortable with her that I thought us being in a real relationship was inevitable.

I owed it to her. Right?

“She’s just jealous of you. Always has been. Her entire family has been.”

She shrugged. “Nothing to be jealous of.” Then she chuckled. “I mean, I’m a twenty-three-year-old woman who has worked her life away to save up just enough money to move into her own house while also supporting her sister because her parents died in a house fire. Oh, and let’s not forget the fact that I’ve only had one serious boyfriend my entire life. What is there to be jealous of? I’m like a forty-year-old living in a twenty-three-year-old’s body.”

So much. There’s so much to be jealous of my sweet, naïve Ivy.

“Had?” My heart suddenly felt like it was slowly falling down a jagged, rocky cliff. Colliding with each and every bump.

“Huh?”

“You said you had a boyfriend. You don’t anymore?”

Ivy’s face turned a little pink and even under the night sky I could see that she was suddenly embarrassed. She started to kick the rocks with her foot again, all while not meeting my face. What did he do to her? Because I’ll kill him.

“Oh,” her voice was weak. “Yeah, we broke up right before I moved here.”

“Why?” I inquired.

“He told me he would break up with me if I moved to this ‘Podunk town.’”

“So you did anyway?”

A harsh laugh fell out of her mouth. “If someone is willing to let me go because I wanted to move to my hometown, the only place that actually held good memories of my parents, then fuck him.”

A smile grew on my face. My God, I love how strong-willed she’s become.

“So that was it? He just said it was over, and then you moved?”

She shrugged again. “Yeah. Well, no. He’s called a few times, but I usually ignore them. Today he left a voicemail. He said he wanted to talk because he missed me.”

Fire went through my veins.

“Are you going to talk to him?”

She inhaled a deep breath and I couldn’t help but stare at the way her chest expanded. If I looked hard enough, I could see the black, lacy bra under her white shirt and that only made my guilt intensify.

“I don’t know,” she finally answered and all the hope I had inside my body evaporated.

My phone started vibrating in my pocket. Ivy’s eyes glanced down at the noise ricocheting off the side of my truck. I pulled it out and saw Breanna’s icon flashing.

I rolled my eyes but muted a groan.

“You better get that. I’m going to head back in.”